love

My Poem “The Lion of His Pride”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am just now starting
to recover from the storm
of thoughts, feelings,
and emotions that I have
felt swirling around me,
within me, over the past
two weeks – fourteen days
over which I and my family
have been tested in ways
like never before.

Every day for two weeks
I and my family woke up,
greeted the sunlight of the new day,
clasped our hands together,
looked up to the blue sky,
as we collectively and individually
prayed that things would be ok
and that my Dad would soon
awaken and be saved.

It’s hard to put into words
and to find some kind of reason
to describe what happened and why…
it’s hard to know what to say
and what to do when something
so shocking as what happened happens –
especially when all that you feel
like you want to do is cry.

Everybody has their own path to take
and their own steps to make
when coming to terms with something
so frightening – and no one more so
than the one who is at the centre
of attention and care
who is being willed to get better
and to regain enough strength
to open their eyes,
to say what they want to say,
and to once again stand up
on their own two feet…
there is nothing more scarier to me
than being in the shoes of someone
who has been incapacitated –
but, as I whispered into the ear
of my Dad when he was unconscious,
for my Dad I would have without question
chosen to take his place.

For someone who has seen
as much as my Dad has seen,
for someone who has felt
as much pain as my Dad has felt
throughout his life,
for someone who has been
through so many unprovoked battles
as my Dad has been through,
you just have to wonder
why it is that some people
have to go through
what they have to go through
while others seem to get
an easier roll of the dice…
for someone who is as scarred
and yet as caring, loving, strong,
full of life and purpose as my Dad
has always been throughout his life,
I do not think that it is uncalled for
to ask whomever or whatever is listening
to help my Dad in any way that they can
so that he can continue to be
the lion of his pride that he has always been.

My Poem “The Heart of A Family”

Mark Hastings life, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There are some things in this life
that cannot be predicted…
there are moments in our lives
that we never want to see repeated…
there are some things and some people
that we all sometimes take for granted…
there are truly terror-inducing,
fear-filled, horrifying and shocking
things that happen to fathers,
to brothers, to sisters, to mothers –
to members of a family –
that have the power of a lightning-bolt,
the gravity of a star, and the explosive
impact of a bomb being detonated
to bring people to their knees.

When terror and tragedy strike
time is always of the essence…
when there is the fear that
someone could lose their life
every action of every second is precious…
when someone’s heart stops beating
the split-second instincts
of a stranger could mean everything…
when a chaotic event takes place
the present and the future
of a person’s life can depend upon
so many disaparate pieces of a puzzle
coming together, to work together,
to give something to someone else:
to restart a person’s heart,
to breathe life back into the lungs of someone, in my opinion,
is nothing short of a miracle,
because giving the gift of life,
so that someone may carry on
living and breathing once again,
is truly incredible and phenomenal in every way.

So many things run through a person’s mind
when they hear that something
out of their control has happened
to someone that they love…
so many different scenarios
are considered and so many
things are thrown into the air
in order to find out who or what
was to blame for what happened,
and for what mostly could not have been foreseen;
however, ultimately, the truth about every one of us is that
no one is untouchable,
everybody is vulnerable –
and when the life of somebody
who is important to a group of people
is threatened in some way
it becomes greatly apparent
whom it is who stands, sustains,
and is the driving force
at the heart of a family.

Dedicated to my Dad
My Dad

My Poem “My Beautiful Muse”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You love me, I love you…
you inspire me, I inspire you…
we are each others’ world,
star, life, and moon…
Since the moment I met you
you have opened my eyes
to places and to things
that I never knew
but always hoped to be true.

I believe that our meeting
one another was no mere fluke –
because over the days, the months,
the weeks, the years
that we have known each other
and have been a part
of each others’ lives
I have discovered within you
and within myself gifts
and blessings that are hoped for
by the many but are only
found by the few.

When you share a love
as deep, as strong, as powerful,
as passionate, as phenomenal,
and as amazing as the one that we share
you want to do things
and you want to go to all the places
that lie on the borderline
between the worlds of the simple
and the complex,
and you want to leap into what you see,
what you hear, what you feel,
what you know, and what you
would rather die than to lose…
you and I live in a world of love,
and I will always love you,
because you are my life and my world,
my beautiful muse.

My Poem “Superpower”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The life of an artist
is not always easy…
the inspiration imbibed
by an artist is the combination
of a marathon of many steps
of a long journey…
an artist sometimes has to walk
a line between darkness and light…
relationships, experiences, loss,
the stories of other people
are a vital contributing factor
in how an artist will grow
and what an artist will choose to create…
the art of an artist is
a subjective perspective of life
that is neither wrong nor right.

The explosive power of an artist’s muse
is unparalleled and indescribable,
and when fully harnessed
the inspiration felt by an artist
can feel as amazing and invigorating
and as dangerous as holding
a stick of dynamite…
art is an obsession and it can be
as addictive as a drug,
and as intoxicating as love.

Love inspires art,
and art inspires love…
art can be seen below,
as well as above…
in my opinion, artists
are like superheroes
and the gift to be able
to make art is a miracle…
art can save people,
and artists who make art that matters
have a responsibility to instill
into their creations ideas
that will help other people dream
and achieve things in their life
that will flower and continue
to reinvigorate the gift
that is their inner light
and their ultimate source of power.

My Poem “Like a Moth to a Flame”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am the moth
and you are the flame,
I have a fever
and you are to blame…
I write poetry
as if I were spinning silk,
and you are my muse
and the angel to whom
I pledge my undying love to
and I always will…
I have been drawn to you
since I first saw the perfection
of your face and the ethereal fire
of magic in your eyes,
and to me you have always been
and you always be the wolf of my heart
that can never be tamed
but who needs to be reminded of
just how amazing you are
and the reasons why
I will never look away from you
or ever go leave your side –
because I am in awe of you
morning, noon, and night
like a moth to the flame of firelight.

My Poem “Personal Heaven”

Mark Hastings life, Poetry , , , , , , , , , ,

Heaven is a moment of time…
Heaven is a person of love and light…
Heaven is a song of truth that
touches your heart as well as your mind…
Heaven is a source of passion and inspiration
that artists constantly mine…
Heaven is a cloud of thoughts,
impulses, memories, and observations
that combine to make an internal
ocean of infinite depths
to which anybody can dive.

Heaven can be found within the soul of a person…
Heaven can be found in the way
that a someone makes you feel…
Heaven is whatever someone considers
to be breathtaking, magical,
wonderful, and beautiful.

Heaven is often not just
what someone can feel
but what in truth cannot be touched
or put into words…
Heaven is the world within you
that you discover over the course of your life
which stays with you and which unfolds
before you when you fall off
the precipice of this life
and you start living the life
within the world of your own personal heaven.

My Poem “Rings”

Mark Hastings life, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rings are a symbol of love…
Rings are a symbol of eternity…
Rings made up of tiny particles
can be seen encircling
the mighty gas-giants
of our solar system
and have been doing so for generations…
Rings are a promise…
Rings are an oath…
Rings are a truth and an unending
bond shared that should not
be taken for granted…
Rings of engagement, Rings of marriage,
Rings mean something profound
to those who understand
and value the symbol of forever
that should not be broken…
A Ring can give meaning…
A Ring can give purpose…
A Ring can give its wearer power…
A Ring given to someone by their lover
can make them happier than they have ever been…
Rings made of every type of metal
have been worn for centuries
and they have come to symbolize
many different things –
however, when I think of a ring,
and what a ring means to me,
it symbolizes completion,
protection, a union of hearts, minds,
bodies, and souls connected
in so many different ways…
Life is a cycle… galaxies of stars spin
with black-holes at the centre of them…
planets orbit their stars…
moons orbit their parent planets…
The universe is a system
of concentric Rings around Rings
around Rings around Rings –
Rings are everywhere you look…
Rings are what give meaning to everything.

My Poem “Anniversary”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There is just something
about two people who,
no matter who they are
and where they’re from,
are always meant to be together…
distance means nothing
when it comes to destiny…
sometimes two people
are just inexplicably drawn
to the same place, at the same time,
and are meant to be drawn to one another –
and when two people who are meant
to be together first see each other
it is as if they already know
that they share something:
a fate, a life, a future,
a reason to be there for one another,
that influences every choice
that they make…
when two people who are meant to be together
first get to know one another
where they are from
and what they had done in their past
is irrelevant to what really matters:
that lightning-strike of attraction,
that infatuation, and that love
that makes them feel like they have
never felt before…
everybody in life makes mistakes –
sometimes people meet and things do not
work out in a relationship,
but all for good reason;
the relationships that last are not always
the ones in which everybody involved
gets along with one another and never fights,
because often times it is having
a difference of opinion about some things
that keeps the spark of a relationship alive…
it is always important to remind your partner,
your lover, your fiance, your husband, your wife,
how much they mean to you and why you love them
above everything and everyone else,
by complementing them, by supporting them,
by giving them as much of your attention as you can,
and by looking at them as if they were
the brightest and the most beautiful light
that has ever shined in the galaxy…
when two people who love each other
first find each other they have no idea
what is going to happen next,
but what they already know
is that they have an instant chemistry
that could never be replicated,
and after years of being together
two people can often come to develop
and share their own language
and their own method of communication
with one another –
and when a certain date and day
rolls around on the calendar,
and a day that two people in a relationship
recognize as meaning something
to the two of them and none others,
they often want to mark
and proclaim to everybody
that on such a day they are celebrating
the fact that they share something
that is just theirs and no one else’s:
their anniversary.

My Poem “The Perfect Blend”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am the rebel, and you are the angel…
I am the sun, and you are the moon…
I am the singer, and you are the song…
I am the day, and you are the night…
you like apples, I like androids…
you love music, I love words…
you dream of us going to rock concerts,
while I dream of us taking a journey
to other worlds…
you love roses, I love sunrises…
your favourite colour is green,
while my favourite colour is blue.

We come from different countries…
we talk with different accents…
we have experienced different things…
we have met different people…
we have been on many different
roller-coaster rides in our lives –
but, no matter where we come from,
no matter what we have done,
I know that you and I were brought together
to love one another for a reason…
from the moment that we met
I knew that I would never be the same again,
from the moment that I looked into your eyes
there was no doubt in my mind or in my heart
that we had been waiting for one another,
so that we could save one another
and bring true love and joy
into the lives of each other,
and forever give meaning to each other
in ways that we had always wanted.

Together I know that we could overcome any obstacle…
together I know that you and I could be happy
no matter where we were…
together I know that we both shine a light
and are an inspiration for one another…
together, since we met each other,
I know that we have been writing
a great love story of highs and lows,
of twists and turns, of hope and happiness,
of passion, of optimism,
of hot summer days, of cold winter nights,
and I promise you that nothing and no one
will ever keep us from being together –
because, to me, you and I are on a journey
that will never end…
and though we may seem like opposites,
the truth is that we are the best of each other –
and, in my opinion, we are the perfect blend.

My Poem “Everything to me”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

On February 24th, 2016,
you and I walked a train-line straight and true
and I was happier than I had ever been
because I was with you…
We were walking near the Nickajack cave,
in Marion County, Tennessee –
the same cave they say that Johnny Cash –
The Man in Black – entered to end his life,
and the same cave where he found divinity…
I can still remember every moment
that we walked alongside the Tennessee River,
holding hands, talking to each other,
and at one point me picking you up
and carrying you so that your shoes
wouldn’t get muddied…
You and I shared so much together
that day, and every day since…
You and I are more in love now
and are stronger than ever…
You and I are something special…
you and I are phenomenal,
and I have never known the love
that I feel for you before…
every day I feel born again
in your beautiful light –
which to me is stronger
and more incredible than that of the sun…
to be with you for the rest of my life
is all that I could ever want or ever need…
being with you is a blessing, a gift,
a dream come true that means
everything to me.